Man Who Dragged and Beat Horse Found Not Guilty – Take Action!

Posted by April Nockleby, ALDF's Online Content Manager on April 16, 2009

Last month, we alerted ALDF’s Anti-Cruelty Team to a horrific case of horse abuse that needed their attention. We thank everyone who took action by writing letters and making phone calls!

Despite the overwhelming response and public outcry, on March 19, 2009, March 19, 2009, a jury acquitted Gordon Allen Bates of Pinal County, Arizona, finding him “not guilty” after being charged with felony animal cruelty for dragging a horse behind his truck and then beating the horse with a PVC pipe while his 13-year-old daughter kicked the horse in the head, while both yelled at the horse to get up.

According to a news report, a deputy who remained with the horse for an hour after the incident saw blood dripping from the animal’s nostrils the entire time. He said the horse had new and old injuries: multiple bruises on its rump, cuts on its face and neck, cuts from a tow strap used to drag it, deep cuts on its legs and swelling under one eye where the horse was beaten with the pipe.

2 thoughts on “Man Who Dragged and Beat Horse Found Not Guilty – Take Action!”

gordon bates was found not guilty because the crime never happened. This story was a fabrication made up by deputy Abert Phelps.
The prosecution could not even produce a drag mark. Deputy Phelps claimed that the horse was dragged approx. 75 feet two times. A 1500 lbs
horse that was dragged that far 2 times did not leave a drag mark. No injuries that were consistant with being dragged over hard packed adobe and rocks. If the horse had been dragged it would have left a drag mark and the cops would have documented it. They did not have any blood evidence. No fingerprints on the pipe. Only a couple of small scratches that the horse got from just normal activity.It is interesting that when animal rights assholes get a conviction they praise the legal system but when the legal system finds that someone was wrongly accussed they call it an injustice.
This prossecution of an innocent family was the crime. And then when the rescuers went on line to raise money to feed the animal… Well if they can’t afford to keep it what are they doing.

The Jury set an innocent man free. The crime that caused such an up-roar was only a fabrication. Dreamed up by a 400lb deputy looking to make a name for himself. And the parade of liers that tried to bullshit a jury. The crime is false reporting and perjury by the deputy. And everyone else just jumped on the band wagon. They had no evidence. And thats what you need in a trial. No drag marks no injuries. And the prosecutor who had no evidence thought he could jump up and down yell and scream and pound a piece of pvc pipe on the ground and scare a jury into convicting an innocent man. And remember there was no offer of a plea deal. it was all or nothing. I am so proud of our justice system now. I saw that if a person is really innocent and is not afraid to go the distance. A group of jurers with only the evidence to consider can and did make the right decision

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